Ect2 (Epithelial Cell Transforming 2 Oncogene)

Synonyms

Historical Background

Ect2 is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) of the Rho GTPases (Tatsumoto et al. 1999). It was isolated as a cDNA clone with capability of converting mouse fibroblasts to malignantly transformed cells (Miki et al. 1991, 1993). Transforming Ect2 variants lacked the N-terminal regulatory domain, and efficiently induced focus formation, anchorage-independent cell growth, and cell invasiveness in mouse fibroblasts. Injection of athymic nude mice with Ect2 transformants resulted in tumor formation. While full-length Ect2 is localized only in the nucleus, its oncogenic variants are detected in the cytoplasm as well. In M phase, Ect2 distributes in the entire cells after nuclear membrane breakdown, and is concentrated on mitotic spindles and then central spindles. In the last stage of M phase, Ect2 translocates to the midbody, which is formed between two emerging daughter cells. Perturbation of Ect2 function in M...